Be Yourself

(Reflection on the movie Kungfu Panda)

God works in each of us through our personal context, along with our perfections and defects. That is what the story of Po in the movie Kungfu Panda tells me. Po’s fat body and his hobby to eat a lot, at first seemed to be defects for him, have been means for him to be a Dragon Warrior, a Kungfu expert, and to defeat the ferocious Tai Lung. Master Shifu, Po’s teacher realizes that he can’t teach Po in the he teaches his Students, The Furious Five (Tigress, Viper, Mantis, Crane, and Monkey). Shifu, therefore, teaches Po Kungfu through what interest him most: food and anything related to it. After finishing his training, the Dragon Scroll is given to him. And, a new warrior is born: Po, The Dragon Warrior. The process of becoming a Dragon Warrior itself is rather simple. The secret is that there’s no secret. You just have to believe that you are special. Let yourself to be you. This reminds me of what St. John Berchmans once said: “Do ordinary things with extraordinary zeal”. It is with that belief that Po defeats the ferocious Tai Lung, who is after the Dragon Scroll too.

At first Po doesn’t think his fat body (with his sluggish movement, of course) would be useful. It turns out, however, to be God’s grace. All people have their defects, of course, but only few are grateful for those defects or even consider them as a grace. You just have to work on them and find out by yourself. Besides, you need trust and belief. It is when Shifu put trust on Po that he begins to look up and see himself in a different way. He was convinced about his destiny as the Dragon Warrior by putting trust on Shifu as his master. Finally, Po has to believe in his own capability of being a Dragon Warrior.

Po, once wanted to be one of the Furious Four, has become greater than them. Yet, he is not someone else. He’s still the same Po, who won’t reject any offer of steamed rice bread or a bowl of noodles. Just be you.

God works on every person, in his WAY, that is Gods way and that person’s way.

(St. Ignatius of Loyola)